Microsoft is struggling to reassert its dominance in the computer software and hardware market, but one of its biggest success stories of recent years has undoubtedly been the Kinect camera.
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Microsoft has confirmed it is working on a form of immersive video for gaming, which it calls IllumiRoom - it uses the Kinect camera and a projector to extend graphics beyond the television screen - but there yet is no clear indication of when it might go on sale.
The list includes the use of a Kinect camera and PC for physical rehabilitation, the 3D printing of embedded electrical technologies, a Lego set that helps bridge the gap between crustacean and robot and a device that employs an Arduino board and video games to help stroke victims recover motor skills.
At each end one of Microsoft's Kinect depth camera sensors is used to track the direction of each person's gaze as well as to capture the shape and appearance of objects placed on the surface and the participant sitting behind them.
Microsoft's introducing a new Kinect motion-sensing camera to go alongside its new Xbox One game console.
Update: It's actually a Microsoft Research project that uses a Kinect for a Windows camera combined with a projector.
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Whereas Nintendo uses motion-sensing controllers for the Wii, and Kinect uses only a camera and no controllers, PlayStation Move uses both camera and controller.
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Microsoft announced a new feature coming to its Xbox Kinect that allows the camera system to detect facial movements and project them in real-time onto a digital character.
In addition to an infrared camera and projector, the Kinect features a microchip that performs "skeletal tracking, " or following movement without using a camera lens.
For the uninitiated, the Lynx A is billed as a point-and-shoot 3D camera that uses Kinect-esque hardware to obtain depth mapping and imaging info from your surroundings.
If Kinect's whole-room camera, robust facial-recognition software, and portal for video and audio chat are seen as insecure, it's a nightmare.
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Namely, the console will ship with a new version of Microsoft's motion-sensing camera controller, Kinect, and that the device, "must be plugged in and calibrated for the console to even function, " the piece says.
From Tel Aviv unknown to Xbox gaming wunderkind, PrimeSense has already had quite a run, but the camera-control tech that powers Kinect is destined for new applications before long.
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The Kinect uses a laser projector and an infared (IR) camera to recognize movement.
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Like Kinect, these solutions will have a pair of 640 x 480 camera sensors to measure user position in 3D space, but don't expect them to have motorized tilt functionality or voice recognition -- PrimeSense said it won't be able to make those available for manufacturers, as they're all Microsoft ideas.
ENGADGET: Kinect tech destined for TV-embedded greatness in 2011, HTPC integration later this year
On the inside is a 1080p camera -- a huge step up from the VGA sensor on the original Kinect.
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